State Sen. Liz Krueger writes: Legalize marijuana? Yes. Here's why

Last week, I stood on the steps of City Hall and unveiled groundbreaking legislation that my staff and I have been working on for the better part of a year: the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act.

I don't think smoking marijuana is a great idea, and I'm not planning on lighting up when my bill eventually passes -- the last time I smoked marijuana was 1976, and it's going to stay that way.

But I'm sponsoring this bill because our policy on marijuana just doesn't make sense. It's resulting in enormous numbers of young people with their futures ahead of them, particularly those from communities of color, being arrested and dragged into the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, medical science has clearly shown marijuana isn't nearly as dangerous as cigarettes and alcohol. Finally, our current policy has resulted in a shocking paradox -- experts say it's actually much easier for kids to purchase marijuana than alcohol or cigarettes, because marijuana sales all occur outside the law. If instead of banning and criminalizing marijuana we regulate it with age restrictions, it will almost certainly be easier to keep it out of children's hands!

I'm not advocating marijuana use -- I'm advocating common-sense public policy that will keep our kids safer, eliminate a practice that creates racial disparities in our justice system, dry up a funding source for organized crime, and raise tremendous revenue for the state that we can reinvest into reentry programs, substance abuse treatment, and the state's general fund.

I know that this is a pretty out-in-front position -- even for me. But I feel strongly that it's time to face reality on marijuana, and the reality is that regulating and taxing it makes a lot more sense than an endless cycle of arrests, violence, and wasted taxpayer dollars.